Taylor Swift and Ticketmaster Verified Fan Prove to Be a Perfect Pair

In October, the Financial Times released an analysis on Taylor Swift’s 2018 “Reputation” tour, calling her use of dynamic pricing as a “high note in the battle against ticket touts.”

According to the analysis, Swift took in about $1.4 million per show that had been lost to resellers on her 2015 tour. The key to this growth? Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan, a program designed to make it easier for fans to connect with artists and get tickets directly to fans.

While Swift’s prior tour, “1989”, was a success and sold out across the country, Swift lost an estimated $150 million in potential sales to resellers, according to Financial Times numbers.

In a move that aligned well with her reputation for putting fans first, Swift decided to use Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan platform for her U.S. tour dates. She knew the partnership would ensure that her fans had the advantage over bots and scalpers to get tickets to her shows.

Fans registered online for their preferred city and unlocked access to the Taylor Swift Tix portal.

Ticketmaster used fan-first technology to weed out bad bots and scalpers trying to cheat their way to tickets.

Fans boosted their place in the virtual ticket-buying line by completing activities such as watching a video or listening to music.

Fans received a presale code via text message during their presale window and unlocked access to purchase tickets.

The result: While Swift’s 2015 tour saw a whopping 30 percent of tickets on the secondary market, this rate shrunk considerably to just 5 percent for her 2018 Reputation Tour.

Taylor Swift may have been one of the first major artists to use Verified Fan for her tour, but she’s not the only one. Ed Sheeran used Verified Fan for his 2018 North American Tour and Harry Styles also used Verified Fan for “Live on Tour”, his first-ever solo tour.